CPRE : Consortium for Policy Research in Education

Working Paper

The Milwaukee Public School district (MPS) Demonstration Schools Initiative provided intensive support to 10 MPS elementary and middle schools implementing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in mathematics and English language arts. This evaluation report was designed to answer two overarching questions:

How did MPS implement the Demonstration Schools Initiative in Year One, and what factors shaped the implementation?

Is there evidence of teachers' adoption of the instructional shifts associated with the CCSS?

This evaluation found that teachers in the Demonstration Schools ended the 2012-2013 school year with significantly higher CCSS knowledge in both mathematics and English language arts than did teachers in the comparison schools.